Here She Comes Again Dolly Parton has a nickname, the “Iron Butterfly,” that is well-earned and is fitting on a number of levels having far more to do with business than the sentiment represented in her early hit, “Love is Like a Butterfly.” Years into a career that began when Parton, now 60 years of age, was only nine, she is still flying high in the music world with an Oscar-nominated song, “Travelin’ Thru,” for the movie Transamerica. Parton… More...
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The 2006 Power 100 Power is fleeting. This year’s installment of Business Tennessee’s list of the 100 most powerful people in the Volunteer State bears that out. Culled from dozens of conversations with top businesspeople, politicians and community movers and shakers, and teamed with Business Tennessee’s own ever-watchful eye on changes occurring throughout the year in the state’s power structure, we present once again the fruits of both journalistic investigation and our well-connected readership’s keen awareness of who’s really…
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Due to space constraints, the following letters to the editor appear in the April edition in abbreviated form. Printed here are the unedited version of those letters.
Working Smarter Sprawl. It’s not a pretty word. And it’s often not a pretty picture. “Like many older cities, Memphis is facing sprawl,” says Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton Jr., who is working with other county leaders to rewrite zoning laws and ordinances that rein in sprawl. “Before I took office, as a practicing attorney, I was well aware that our zoning codes were often disregarded,” Wharton says. “The laws were really no more than guidelines that could…
Sharp as a Knife Tell Stewart Taylor it can’t be done, and he’ll build a multi-million dollar empire.The risk-taking knife enthusiast and sole owner of Kingsport-based Taylor Brands hit the jackpot when he seized licensing rights from bankrupt Schrade Cutlery, the country’s top brand, for a mere $3.7 million in 2004—a buy that included 90 trademarks and 30 patents. …
Knowing Your X’s & X’s Action Sports Media has made a full court press into collegiate women’s sports marketing—a source of revenue the company says is largely untapped by today’s standards. Although the company’s decision to relocate to Knoxville last year and its new focus on promoting women’s athletics are mutually exclusive, having basketball coaching great Pat Summitt and the U.T. Lady Vols’ machine nearby will certainly lend credibility to the sales pitch. New president and CEO, Gordon D. Whitener, purchased…
Picture Imperfect In the late 1990s, as public demand forced tighter government restrictions on phone solicitations, Olan Mills dropped the telemarketing strategy it pioneered generations earlier and entered the unfamiliar—and often turbulent—waters of mass-market retail. Almost a decade later, the Chattanooga company’s studio portrait division, once its flagship, continues to seek stable footing despite battering changes in the market and in technology. …
An iNiche Market Paul Griffin might have a reason or two to be quiet about his business. Fourteen years ago, the inventor and electrical engineer founded a company in Nashville that made adapters for Apple Macintosh computers, making them work with PC monitors. Since then, the mom-and-pop business, which at some point employed only a handful of people at its Elm Hill Pike warehouse, grew to one of the world’s largest makers of peripheral products for all things…
Is This Seat Taken? Jackson will have something next year that it has not had in 18 years—a mayor’s race that does not include current office holder Charles Farmer. First elected in 1989, Farmer announced in January that he would not seek re-election in 2007.Farmer’s unexpected revelation set off a wave of speculation and debate about Jackson’s future. It also insulates the city from an election season focused on a red herring. Farmer’s early announcement eliminates all feasibility of…
A More Equity-Able Solution When one has borrowed all one can from the bank, where is a small business owner to turn for more capital to grow the business? One viable option would be to seek the assistance of a mezzanine investor. Similar to the way the mezzanine level of a cruise ship sits in between the main floors of the boat, mezzanine financing “sits between senior debt and equity on the balance sheet,” says Robert Smith of Petra Capital…
A Sixth Grade MBA The 63 sixth grade students currently enrolled at the Memphis Business Academy (MBA), a one-year-old charter school, reside predominantly in the 38127 zip code, where bankruptcy rates, predatory lending practices and home foreclosures set record highs in Shelby County. There are few places in Tennessee where a student curriculum geared toward financial literacy and business entrepreneurship has the potential for such life-altering impact. Charter schools—alternative public schools granted some freedom from traditional local oversight—while still heavily…
Clarksville-Montgomery County While Clarksville has a cozy feel, the types of businesses moving in, as well as the announcements from existing industry, are proof that Clarksville is one of Tennessee’s most important metropolitan areas. Located 45 miles northwest of Nashville at the Kentucky border, Clarksville is home to the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell military base, which is itself home to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). In September 2005, the military operation deployed 24,000 soldiers to Iraq. …
The Highlands Initiative Cookeville Putnam County Sparta White County Livingston Overton County “Step On Up.” That’s what officials hope will happen—figuratively and literally—to the area’s economy as well as to the businesses that move to Tennessee’s Upper Cumberland. “Step On Up” is the slogan of the Highlands Initiative, a four-year economic and community development program for the area. It was developed and spearheaded by the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce. …
